


when the last petal falls

by earlgrey_milktea



Series: milktea's saso2017 fills [7]
Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Emetophobia, Hanahaki Disease, Happy Ending, Light Angst, M/M, Nitori-centric, Sickness, a little bit of hanakotoba
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-02
Updated: 2017-06-02
Packaged: 2018-11-07 23:59:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11069796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/earlgrey_milktea/pseuds/earlgrey_milktea
Summary: it starts with a small cough.but when he starts coughing up flower petals, he knows he's cursed.





	when the last petal falls

**Author's Note:**

> original prompt thread [here](http://sportsanime.dreamwidth.org/21522.html?thread=10413586#cmt10413586)

When Rin asks Aiichirou is he wants to join him for extra practice later that afternoon, and Aiichirou agrees without missing a beat. When Rin gives him that smile of his, sharp-toothed and wickedly bright, Aiichirou feels something tickle the back of his throat. He thinks nothing of it, even when the feeling intensifies as he smiles back.

 

 

 

The itch spreads. 

Aiichirou starts bringing a water bottle with him wherever he goes, from his classes to the dorms to the pool. His throat feels scratchy even when he’s not talking. Maybe he’s coming down with a cold.

“Are you getting sick?” Rin frowns at him, making to put a hand on his forehead.

Startled, Aiichirou ducks away. He can feel his face heat up, though he’s not sure why. Maybe he really is sick. 

“I’m fine!” he says, waving his arms. “Don’t—Don’t worry about it, Matsuoka-senpai!”

“If you’re sure,” Rin says, still frowning. “And I told you before, Rin is fine.”

“R-Right, Matsu—Rin-senpai!”

Rin rolls his eyes, but lets it slide. “Come on then, you’re going to be late for class.”

Aiichirou follows his roommate out the door, clutching his water bottle. He coughs into his sleeve, and coughs again for good measure. There must be something stuck in his throat. He clears his throat, hard, but nothing happens. Aiichirou sighs. Maybe he should ask to be excused from practice this afternoon. He doesn’t want to risk getting other people sick.

 

 

 

His chest has started to feel heavy. His coughing has gotten worse, until everyone is looking at him worriedly and Rin has taken to asking him if he wants to drink water or take a nap. Aiichirou buys a medicinal mask even though he doesn’t think it’s a cold.

Colds don’t stay for more than two weeks. Colds don’t settle in his chest like something taking root, colds don’t crawl up his throat until sometimes, Aiichirou is half-convinced he can’t breathe.

“Hey,” Rin says, coming into the dorm with a thermos in his hands. “I got you some soup.”

Aiichirou sits up on his bed. “Oh, you didn’t have to do that.”

“I know, but I want you to feel better.”

Something flutters in Aiichirou’s chest, and then he’s coughing again. “Th-Thanks, Rin-senpai...”

Rin’s frowning at him in concern again. It’s a familiar expression now, the crease in his forehead, the displeased downwards tug of his lips, the worry in his eyes. “Get some rest, okay? The pool feels lonely without you.”

Aiichirou manages to hold it in until their dorm door clicks shut behind Rin. Then he coughs, hard, feeling something rattle in his chest. It aches like something straining against his ribcage, and he struggles to breathe. Aiichirou cups his hands to his mouth, suddenly scared he might throw up, but it’s just another cough, until—

Something rolls onto his tongue. He spits it into his palm. A small, white rose sits in his hand, and Aiichirou’s eyes grow round in horror. 

This is so much worse than a cold.

 

 

 

He knows what it means. Aiichirou isn’t stupid, and he’s read enough novels to know this strange disease by name. One sunny afternoon finds him in the library anyway, searching up the sickness that is growing branches and petals inside his chest.

_ Hanahaki disease. Cause: unrequited love. Can be fatal. _

There isn’t much to go on. None of the facts seem to agree with each other. All Aiichirou knows is that he’s fallen for Rin and he’s going to die, choking on the flowers falling out of his mouth.

How can something so beautiful be so deadly?

 

 

 

Aiichirou hasn’t left his dorm room in days. There’s a basket of flowers slowly filling up under the bed. He’s only glad that Rin’s been busy with the swim meets that he can hide the petals that spill out of his body.

He can feel himself growing weaker. It’s hard to breathe sometimes, and when he tries to take a deep breath, all he can feel is the tug of vines and stems tangled in his chest. It’s painful. He doesn’t know what to do, and he’s too scared to call his parents. What if they insist on him taking surgery? What if Rin finds out? What if he forgets Rin? Aiichirou doesn’t want that, even if he can’t really speak anymore around the colourful petals blooming in between his teeth.

This morning, he’s holed up in the bathroom, retching over the toilet bowl. Yellow roses, because Rin is practising with the Itawobi club today. Primroses, because Aiichirou is so tired of hearing his wheezing breaths. Yellow camellias, because he just wants someone to hold him and tell him it’s going to be okay. White chrysanthemums, because what if he dies here, drowned in the flowers of his own stupid crush, and no one will know because he’s too much of a coward to tell anyone, Aiichirou is so scared he doesn’t want to die he doesn’t want to do help help help—

There’s red mixed within the whites and yellows. Aiichirou’s eyes widen. Are those red spider lilies? No. Not yet. It’s—it’s blood. He coughs, a hand going to cover his mouth, but blood-stained petals continue falling, clogging on his tongue. He spits it out, but it doesn’t stop.

It doesn’t stop.

Aiichirou can feel tears dripping down the side of his face but he can only heave over the toilet, the mess of colours blurry through his wet eyes. He feels empty but how can this many flowers be inside him? Is there no end— 

“Nitori?”

He gasps, and immediately chokes on the white rose petals stuck in his throat. Footsteps approach the bathroom door, and Aiichirou panics.

But the door swings open, and Rin is standing there, horror dawning on his face at the sight that greets him. Aiichirou can only stare up at him from the floor, still spitting flowers from his lips.

“Ni—Ai, what’s going on—?”

“I’m—” Coughing, coughing, these  _ stupid flowers _ , coughing. “—I’m sorry, Rin-sen—”

Hands are on his shoulder, and Aiichirou is pushed into a sitting position. “Shh,” Rin tells him, and then gentle hands are wiping his tears away. Aiichirou stares up at his friend. “Don’t—It’s not your fault, I just... Why didn’t you tell me?”

Aiichirou can only shake his head. He coughs out a tulip.

Rin pulls the flower away. “Who is this bastard that’s making you suffer like this? Tell me, Ai, I’ll teach him a lesson for you.”

Seeing how determined Rin looks, and the gentle way he’s trying to clear the pile of flowers, Aiichirou can only laugh. It rattles in his chest. The petals seem to be slowing, but it’s still hard to breathe. He closes his eyes, clears his mouth of flowers. 

“It’s you,” he whispers, throat raw. “It’s you, Rin-senpai. I’m sorry.”

Rin stays quiet. Aiichirou is too tired to move away when red roses forces its way out of him.

“Oh, Ai,” Rin says, and then the gentle fingers are back, tilting his head up until Aiichirou is looking into Rin’s eyes. There’s a softness in them that Aiichirou has never seen before. “ _ I’m  _ sorry. I thought I was doing a good job, but I guess I wasn’t trying hard enough, was I?”

“What?”

“It’s not unrequited. Your feelings.”

“It’s... not?”

“No.” Rin gives him a small smile, brushing aside a red petal from his lips. “I love you, too, Aiichirou. I mean it.”

“But...” Aiichirou coughs, and coughs again. A few more petals come out, and then nothing. Rin stands to grab a cup of water, and then he’s pushing it into Aiichirou’s hands. He drinks, swallows, but his throat is empty. It’s been so long since he’s felt that. Aiichirou stares at Rin. “But then, then why the flowers?”

Rin sits next to him. He runs a hand through Aiichirou’s hair. “I’ve only seen this once before, in Makoto. I can only say that the disease is probably caused by a psychological thing.”

“So... because I thought it was unrequited, the flowers continued to grow?”

“Yeah.”

Aiichirou sighs. His chest still feels too full, but his breaths are coming a little easier now. He leans his head against Rin’s shoulder. “I’m not going to die, Rin-senpai.”

“No,” Rin says, tugging him closer. “I should hope not, Ai.”

“I love you, Rin-senpai.”

“Love you, too, Ai.”

**Author's Note:**

> come yell at me on tumblr or twitter @puddingcatbae


End file.
